Daniel Walker
In 1923 Tennessee, two best friends, Rafe McCawley and Daniel "Danny" Walker, play together in the back of an old biplane, pretending to be soldiers fighting the German Empire in World War I. In January 1941, with World War II raging, Danny and Rafe are both First Lieutenants under the command of Major Jimmy Doolittle. Doolittle informs Rafe that he has been accepted into the Eagle Squadron (a RAF outfit for American pilots during the Battle of Britain). Rafe meets a nurse named Evelyn, who passes his medical exam despite his dyslexia. That night, Rafe and Evelyn enjoy an evening of dancing at a nightclub and later, a jaunt in the New York harbor in a borrowed police boat. Rafe shocks Evelyn by saying that he has joined the Eagle Squadron and is leaving the next day. During a mission to intercept a Luftwaffe bombing raid, Rafe is shot down over the English Channel and is presumed killed in action. A mourning Evelyn turns to Danny, which spurs a new romance between the two. On the night of December 6, Evelyn is shocked to discover Rafe standing outside her door, having survived his downing and spending the ensuing months trapped in Nazi-occupied France. Rafe, in turn, discovers Danny's romance with Evelyn and leaves for the Hula bar, where he is welcomed back by his overjoyed fellow pilots. Danny finds a drunken Rafe in the bar with the intention of making things right, but the two get into a fight. They drive away, avoiding being put in the brig when the military police arrive at the Hula bar. The next morning, on December 7, the Imperial Japanese Navy begins its attack on Pearl Harbor. The US Pacific Fleet suffers severe damage in the surprise attack, and most of the defending airfields are obliterated before they are able to launch fighters to defend the harbor. Rafe and Danny manage to take off in P-40 fighter planes, and are able to shoot down several of the attacking planes. They later assist in the rescue of the crew of the capsized USS Oklahoma, but are too late to save the crew of the sinking USS Arizona. The next day, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivers his Day of Infamy Speech to the nation and requests the US Congress declare a state of war with the Empire of Japan. Later, Danny and Rafe are both assigned to travel stateside under newly promoted Lt. Colonel Doolittle for a secret mission. Before they leave, Evelyn reveals to Rafe that she is pregnant with Danny's child, and intends to stay with Danny. Upon their arrival in California, Danny and Rafe are both promoted to Captain and awarded the Silver Star, and volunteer for a secret mission under Doolittle. During the next three months, Rafe, Danny and other pilots train with specially modified B-25 Mitchell bombers. In April, the raiders are sent towards Japan aboard the USS Hornet. Their mission: bomb Tokyo and land in allied China after. The mission is successful, and Rafe and Danny crash-land into a rice field in China where Japanese soldiers are present. Danny is shot in the crossfire. Rafe reveals Evelyn's pregnancy to the dying Danny; before he expires, Danny tells Rafe that he will have to be the father. After the war, Rafe and Evelyn, visit Danny's grave with Danny and Evelyn's son, also named Danny. Rafe then asks his stepson if he would like to go flying, and they fly off into the sunset in the old biplane that he and his father once had. Awards *Silver Star *Pilots Badge Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel Walker, Daniel